The heartbroken mother of 17-year-old Sonny Stephenson today paid tribute to her son.

The teen motorcyclist died after an incident in Guisborough on Sunday, August 27 and a man is in custody accused of murder.

Six weeks on from his untimely death, Sonny’s grief-stricken family described him as a being “full of life” and “a good kid”.

Mum Elizabeth Stephenson, 44, told how she is struggling to stay strong but found comfort in her son’s emotional funeral service held at Guisborough Parish Church on Wednesday.

Sonny Stephenson

She said: “They say it gets easier, but it doesn’t. It gets worse, day by day, hour by hour my heart continues to ache.

“We gave him a send off he deserved, we had a horse drawn carriage and we played ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra because that’s exactly what he was like. He did everything his way.”

Emergency services were called to Bolckow Street at around 9.15pm on the night of Sonny’s death, following reports of an incident involving a motorcyclist. Sonny was pronounced dead at the scene, and Matthew Buckworth, 34, is accused of his murder.

Elizabeth, who is also mum to Ambrose, 25, Georgie, 18 and Mercediz, eight, described Sonny as being mischievous and told how he “could fix anything with a spoon”.

“He was forever fixing things, especially his bikes. You would have thought he was a mechanic to look at because he was always filthy,” she said.

“He was cheeky and always up to something but he never hurt anyone. He was a young rogue, but harmless.”